Cavemen, Cavewomen, and Cavedogs

For more barks from Susie: http://sandy-steele.blogspot.com. Info on Sandy Steele and her books: http://sandysteele.com.

My Big Mommy informed me that the history of dogs and humans living in harmony has been linked for tens of thousands of years. It seems that all dogs were evolved from wolves eons ago. As man evolved and got better at hunting and killing his food something incredible happened: wolves became more comfortable with cavemen and cavewomen, because wolves were cleaning up the leftover meat scraps discarded by the untidy human hunter-grunters. Wolves had already become a social pack society since the beginning of time. Thus began the robust relationship between humans and dogs.

According to my Big Mommy about 15,000 years ago (and that's 105 THOUSAND in dog years), humans started walking out of Africa and fanning out across the middle East toward Asia. Eventually they got pretty tired of wandering year after year just to forage and kill any food they could locate. So when these primitive people observed the wild wolf animals hanging around closer and closer after cleaning up the leftovers, they also noticed the wolves were actually protecting the campgrounds from dangerous animals like huge killer cats, giant bears, and the like.

When the homo sapiens eventually got tired of walking mile after mile, year after year, they decided to stay in one place. Along with their friendly wolves, they adopted some gentler animals, who could provide them with clothing, meat, and milk...namely goats. Wolves to the rescue again! They were really quick to learn how to keep them in a cluster by herding the stragglers and were even better at fighting off any mean prey animals trying to score a goat meal. As long as the humans were in one place to stay, they decided to plant food like grains and vegetables and grapes. By now my ancestors were sort of wolf/dogs and becoming a permanent part of the human family. They were eager to help out by hauling heavy bags of grain and assisting in hunting other animal game like deer and wild fowl. BONUS: our new doggie friends would also run, search and retrieve for the humans, what had just been hunted for that nights dinner. Kinda like an early caveman Domino's delivery system!

As thousands of years rolled by, humans spread all over the planet with completely different terrains and climates. More and more types of jobs were required...jobs only a DOG could readily handle which helped humans to grow into healthier, smarter people. Who kept the rodent population under control while humans continued their messy ways? Small dogs. Who pulled sleds of hides and supplies across the snowy, icy miles of Asia and North America? Big, furry dogs. Who alerted humans when their precious horses and cattle were in danger from thieves or mountain lions? Big dogs. Who traveled with Roman soldiers and Vikings to conquer empires? Real big dogs with big powerful jaws.

I could brag on and on, but it's not my style and besides, you have the Internet any way so you can learn a lot more on your own. But the simple truth is that if ancient wolves hadn't taken a liking to the poor, suffering cave people and helped them on their way to cultivating food, spreading-out around the entire world, and building permanent camps, I'd probably be sleeping in some dark dingy cave on the cold ground alone and without Big Mommy right now. That would really suck!

But the last 15,000 years have been a marriage made in heaven because the only reward we dogs ever got or still want from you guys is a scratch behind the ears, a hug, and a little tummy rub on special days.

Catch you later,

Sandy & Susie

P.S. A young woman was recently sitting with her Border Collie, Buttermilk, in a movie theater in Hollywood. The dog was loudly cheering for the hero, laughing hysterically, and in general having a wonderful time, when a movie usher approached. "That's strange. Your dog is really enjoying this movie," the usher said. "I know," the woman replied. "I can't figure it out either. Buttermilk really hated the book."